Vacant buildings owners in New Philadelphia must register them within 90 days or pay fine
NEW PHILADELPHIA ‒ The owners of vacant properties in New Philadelphia are now required to register them with the city.
The Vacant Property Registry, which went into effect on March 25, applies to any vacant building ‒ residential, commercial or industrial.
"The purpose of this is it's a tool," Josh Mathias, New Philadelphia's zoning and building code administrator, told council members at their most recent meeting. "We're using this tool to identify and keep track of vacant buildings and structures within the city which will help preserve our residential and commercial districts, hopefully help keep them from being blighted.
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"The end goal, obviously, is to get these places occupied. We've got a lot of people, I keep hearing, want to move into this town, and we've got dozens of houses sitting empty. So, hopefully, this is a nudge to get those property owners to do something with them. The same with commercial spots. We want to get those with active businesses in there."
How the registry works
Owners are required to register buildings within 90 days after they become vacant. The owners also are required to pay an annual fee to cover the costs of the city monitoring the vacant buildings.
Residential owners pay $150 the first year the building was vacant. The fee doubles each year until it reaches a maximum of $2,400 in year five. The owners of commercial buildings pay a fee of $300 the first year the building is vacant. Like the fee for residential buildings, this one doubles every year until it reaches a maximum of $4,800.
Buildings with multiple units are required to be registered if more than half of the available units or more than half of the building's available space is unoccupied.
Buildings are required to be registered every Jan. 1. The deadline to register is in March, and a late fee will be charged to owners who miss that deadline.
"Inspections are required with this registry, exterior only, and that's to ensure that adequate property maintenance is being kept only. That's part of the whole reason for this registry," Mathias said.
Information from the registry will be shared with the city's police and fire departments, as well as the water billing department, he said.
Some buildings are exempt from the registry
Buildings under active construction/renovation.
Buildings that have suffered fire damage or damage caused by extreme weather conditions, as long as active ongoing efforts to rehabilitate the property are being made.
Buildings for sale and listed with a licensed Ohio realtor shall be exempt for a period of six months for residential properties and 12 months for commercial or industrial properties.
"This is going to be great for the city," said Councilman Dan Lanzer. "I think it's going to be able to clean up some of those properties."
Information about the registry can be found on the city's website, www.newphilaoh.com, or the city's Facebook page. Registration forms are available at the service director's office on the top floor of City Hall. For additional information, call the service director's office at 330-364-4491 extension 1275.
Reach Jon at 330-364-8415 or at jon.baker@timesreporter.com.
This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: Owners of vacant buildings in New Philadelphia must register with city
